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#well behaved women seldom make history
taciturn-nerd · 2 years
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The quote "Well behaved women seldom make history" is usually misinterpreted
It is said that 'Well behaved women seldom make history'. This is commonly taken to mean that in order for a woman to make an impact she has to make noise, she has to rebel against the norm, she has to misbehave. Yet when Laurel Thatcher Ulrich first coined the phrase in 1976 this was not the meaning she had in mind. Well behaved women are important, but they are seldom remembered. Women have been ignored by historian for centuries, dismissed by many men as incapable of great achievement; forgotten.
from this article: https://womeninhistory.education/well-behaved-women-seldom-make-history/
So much of modern media celebrates the kind of woman that makes noise and rebels against the norm, but let's not forget the quiet women, the ones behind the scenes, the ones that might not be rocking the boat. They can also have an impact. They also matter.
Let's not belittle one kind of woman to uplift another.
I think this is one reason why 2022 Persuasion has angered so many people. The way they changed Anne's character communicates that only one kind of woman is admirable, only one kind of woman deserves to be the heroine of story. It does a disservice to the nuanced, complex, varied personalities and characters and stories of women.
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sorryiwasasleep · 7 months
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No… no… hang on, because I’ve cried multiple times listening to this song because of the themes and the vocals, but like… just had a Lightbulb moment 💡… was listening rn and I just gotta talk about this bit in Urania Propitia from Pulp Musicals Episode 2: The Brick Satellite
MARGARET: To the women of the galaxy/Who never got the fame
ROSE: You’ve given me the courage not to write/Under my brothers name
ANNA: You’ve given me the blueprint/And you’ve given me the tools
ANNA, MARGARET, ROSE: History is rarely made/By those who write the rules
Because this line ALWAYS ALWAYS makes me think about the ‘Well-behaved women seldom make history’ quote and that phrase and how it’s so often used to be about women needing to MAKE NOISE rather than in a somber remembrance of all those who DID what they were told, who FOLLOWED the rules because… that was what was expected of them, or even women who didn’t follow the rules and protested and fought back, but weren’t the ones leading the charge, and they were left behind by history because of it. And while there’s much more nuance there that I don’t have the brain power for rn, I tend to sort of… despair sometimes for these women because it doesn’t even TAKE long for this happen even NOW, just a few generations before their names are GONE.
And I LOVE this bit in Pulp for this very reason, which I only literally JUST pieced together in my mind. (Like ofc i knew this line and loved it too, but I didn’t connect it my thoughts about that quote before just now)
The women of Pulp point this out. They toast to them, these women that ‘never got the fame’, never got to be able to do what they wanted, what they could’ve excelled at had they been given the opportunity. And more than that, they THANK them.
Margaret, Rose and Anna are saying: I’ll never know you, but I see you anyway, and I thank you because you’re why I’m able to be here. You are the reason I know things need to change and it’s scary but you’ve inspired me to try my damn best to do that in the ways I can.
And I just… 🥹
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eccentricstardust · 11 months
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We put too much authority on humanly love, and when we fail to seek those who accept our flaws every day, without judgement or pity, we slander the beauty we once felt as deranged. We close our hearts in hope that this indifference will liberate us of injuries that our futures might hold. We condemn ourselves to a world of eternal agony- a one that is laughing, menacingly, at all things that could have been.
This is to those willing to take that jump, know that you are embraced by the divinity of the love that lingers beyond all that is reachable. Look at the horizon, and you will know what a pity is it to live in a world of eternal summer, yet to be indifferent to the pastures that welcome those who seek adventure with unwavering, open arms.
An eternal expanse of perennial goodness and glory, where the warm summer breeze make bees dance and birdsongs invite autumn home. You don't pluck the pretty flowers that sway with the crisp morning air that makes your chest rise and rise and rise as if there can't be enough air to full your lungs with all the richness the first light brings, and when the shield of the sun weakens and you can't help but look up the night sky where stars keenly glance through all what the night brings as if in protest against the darkness.
The ocean, that lies in wait for explorers, is calm now. And you can see the reflection of the night sky shimmering in the undulating waters. And as you hear the monotonous song of waves hitting against the cliff, you finally remember that you are always loved, and just because you fail to notice it doesn’t mean that you are not worthy of it.
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maklodes · 9 months
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Poorly behaved women seldom make history either, TBH. Yeah, showing up drunk at your stepdaughter’s wedding wearing a white dress and crudely hitting on the best man and throwing a slice of wedding cake at one of the bridesmaids may be family lore for a while, and might cause a widely-read Reddit post, but it isn’t going in anyone’s 9th grade history textbook.
Making history (in a non-trivial sense) is just pretty hard all around.
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bidoctor · 2 years
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 prints / check content source
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rinrinlovee · 6 months
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nihilism drives me mad
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hauntedwitchshop · 1 year
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(via Well Behaved Women Postcard by HauntedWitch)
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Mrs. Harker gave us a cup of tea, and I can honestly say that, for the first time since I have lived in it, this old house seemed like home. - Dracula by Bram Stoker
🖤🖤🖤
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eucanthos · 2 years
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pop distortion
Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History
The famous slogan actually isn’t about bad girls in history.
It began as a phrase in a scholarly context before it moved into popular culture”
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, women’s history pioneer, published a paper in 1976 about Puritan funeral services.
“That’s why details matter….Details help us understand the precise circumstances that allowed Artemisia Gentileschi to become an artist, or Harriet Jacobs a writer.  Details keep us from falling into the twin snares of “victim” history” and “hero history.”  Details let us out of boxes created by slogans.”
https://patricktreardon.com/book-review-well-behaved-women-seldom-make-history-by-laurel-thatcher-ulrich/
In reality, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s 2007 book of history, “Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History” examines a pivotal moment in the lives of three women in which they broke with conventional behavior in order to re-create themselves and make a place in history. Christine de Pizan, who lived in a 15th c. French court and included Amazons in “The City of Ladies,” a book of women’s biographies.  Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a 19th century suffragist when she encountered a runaway slave that helped shape her position on women’s suffrage; and Virginia Woolf, 20th century writer who created Shakespeare’s gifted, imaginary sister and her trials as a female writer.
Ulrich explains that well-behaved women should make history - Harvard.Gazette, 2007
Well-behaved women do make history, we’ve just been looking in the wrong places. - American Association for State and Local History
Popular Culture: Cognitive Biases Make Common Sense Neither
Pop Culture Is Distorting Our Priorities. February 8, 2019 Angel Diaz:
The power that pop culture has gained is insane. It is interesting that a construct of humanity has been able to dictate what is prioritized, changing our priorities in the process. Conversations about the real world and its issues are no longer the norm. Instead, discussions about who wore what to the Met Gala are more prominent. This is a huge problem that needs to be solved. If not, what society will we be living in: the digital or the physical?
Staying true in a fake world:
Does truth matter? The answer is unequivocally yes.
What makes great art great, is simple – an unbending, unyielding, uncompromising pursuit of truth. Across the huge span of mediums, at every turn the creations that prevail are laced with universal truth and purity of intent. The openness of Picasso’s mind, the tonal perfection of a Stradivari violin or the sublime balance of a Japanese haiku poem.
https://wearepath.com/path-opinion-staying-truth-fake-world/
The Return To Real: When Everything Becomes Artificial, We’ll Demand Authentic
https://armano.medium.com/the-return-to-real-when-everything-becomes-artificial-well-demand-authentic-81966d40e68
eucanthos’ image mix & research
Mata Hari wearing only a gold jeweled breastplate, 1906 post by aiiaiiiyo
Shelley Fabares I'm Evil, 1965 mixed w Ulrich’s phrase found meme
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primapares · 1 year
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tag drop.
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destructive-ilya · 2 years
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misrepresented/misinterpreted quotes and sayings fascinate me beyond reason
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alliluyevas · 1 year
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alanfromrochester · 19 days
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Apropos Hunger Games thought for International Womens Day
So I'm rereading the Hunger Games books lately (with the TBOSAS movie out on DVD I'm going back to the originals) and I happened to start Catching Fire on March 8. This felt fitting not only because of the strong female lead but also due to content of an early scene. Katniss visits Hazelle and Mrs. Hawthorne's importance to sustaining the family after the mine explosion is emphasized, compared to the general emphasis on Gale's hunting and in contrast to Gale not wanting victor Katniss' help. (that's clearly foolish pride on Gale's part, but I'm not sure to what extent it's jealousy of Everlark versus something else like not wanting Capitol blood money) I'm reminded of the Laurel Thatcher Ulrich line "well behaved women seldom make history." - that's often taken to mean if you want to be famous, be rebellious (what Katniss stumbles into in this analogy) but in context it's a lament that the chronicles downplay the efforts of ordinary people (Hazelle Hawthorne in this example)
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eccentricstardust · 1 year
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niamh-oshea · 6 months
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well-behaved women seldom make history
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marzipanandminutiae · 2 years
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The worst example of “well-behaved women seldom make history” that I’ve ever encountered was when a superior at one of my museums tried to dissuade me from reading a WHOLE AUTOBIOGRAPHY written by the second lady of the house
Because “it’s not that interesting”
That is A HUMAN BEING’S ENTIRE LIFE?
80-ODD YEARS OF LOVING AND HATING AND GRIEF AND JOY AND EXPERIENCE?
AND JUST BECAUSE SHE LIVED WITHIN THE EXPECTED PARAMETERS FOR HER GENDER AND CLASS YOU DISMISS IT AS “NOT THAT INTERESTING?”
Get that attitude out of here and leave the social history field honestly
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